The invention relates generally to broken rail detection systems, and more specifically to a system and method for active detection of broken rails.
Many approaches exist to monitor the safety of railroad systems and to detect mechanical separation, or a break in the rails. One common approach is the use of electric track circuits in a predefined section or block of track wherein the lack of electrical continuity serves as an indication for railroad breaks. Manual inspection is also typically utilized to detect such rail breaks.
Another approach to detect railroad breaks is to transmit bursts of mechanical energy over the tracks at regular intervals. A transducer coupled to the rail provides an electrical signal representative of the mechanical signal. An energy detector is commonly used to detect the presence of the transmitted pulses and thus determine the integrity of the railroad. One problem with the approach is that the propagation channel presented by the rail is prone to dispersion, attenuation and environmental noise. These factors often complicate and limit the design and application of such energy detectors. Thus, energy detectors can be used for detection for fairly short ranges due to the above factors effecting propagation of the mechanical signal pulses.
Therefore, what is desired is a method and apparatus for actively detecting the integrity of railroad track over a large detection range.